Zero
Zero is the character from Capcom's Megaman X series and the main protagonist from Megaman Zero series. Backstory Zero was created by the late Dr. Albert Wily sometime in the early-21st century. His first chronological appearance was in the form of schematic blueprints during Bass's ending for Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters and described by Wily as his "greatest masterpiece." Learning from his past mistakes, including the accidental creation of Bassnium, and his construction of Bass and King, Wily constructed a new robot, far more advanced than anything he had ever built before with a power level far superior to that of Bass or Mega Man. Wily took the time to complete Zero, originally planning to use him against both Mega Man, and his insolent rebellious Bass. However, this never happened, and he was never utilized during the Wily Wars. Zero was routinely activated in a semi-conscious state during his construction, and Wily conversed with him, mirroring what Light himself did with X. Zero was aggressive and disobedient, and because of this Wily decided to seal him in a capsule. Decades later, in the early 22nd century, he was awakened by a group of Reploids prior to the first Mega Man X game. When he was first activated, he awoke as a Maverick (by the definition of wanting to cause harm to all humans) and destroyed all intruders who had dared to enter Wily's lair. Zero was later cornered by Maverick Hunter Elite, Gamma's Maverick Hunter unit inside an unknown facility, however at the cost of a total loss of said unit. Not wanting to get anymore comrades endangered by the powerful enigmatic Maverick, then-Hunter Commander Sigma himself challenged Zero in a fateful one-on-one battle. Even though Zero eventually gained the upper hand during the battle, Sigma was able to defeat the red Maverick after the gem on Zero's head began to glow and a 'W' symbol appeared, apparently causing Zero great pain. Sigma punched this crystal, shattering it and defeating Zero (subsequently passing on the Maverick Virus to himself). He was then brought to Dr. Cain, who analyzed him. After that, Zero recovered from his battle with Sigma and was placed under Sigma's watch. Zero did not show any signs of Maverick behavior and was enlisted into the Maverick Hunters' 17th Elite Unit. Zero had sacrificed his life multiple times as a Maverick Hunter and was usually rebuilt or repaired as soon as possible. However, towards the end of the Maverick Wars and near the beginning of the Cyber Elf Wars, Zero was defeated and left in a century long hibernation before being awakened by Dr. Ceil in an even more distopian future. Zero quickly joined a resistance movement which fought against injustices brought about by an imperfect copy of X, who ordered the mass execution of hundreds of reploids due to an energy crisis. After the fall of Copy X, Zero witnessed the releasing of the Mother Elf and the rise and fall of the genocidal maniac Dr. Weil. Powers The ultimate result of the infamous Dr. Albert Wily's research, Zero was built with the intention of surpassing anything Wily had built before, and to destroy his long time nemesis's creation, Megaman, as well as his own misguided creation, Bass. Being made before the introduction of standard mass produced Reploids and during the construction of X, his internal processes and construction are considered to be more advanced than most known robotics and on par with X's parameters and capabilities. He is initially outfitted with an armament known as the Z-Buster, an arm cannon capable of firing of blasts of energy as well as manipulating it to launch it in special variations and projections. During the X2 series and onward, Zero adopts and becomes the user of the Z-Saber, a beam sword not unlike a lightsaber in certain aspects, and is his trademark weapon. Not only capable of manifesting itself as a beam of light, it is also capable changing its energy patterns to manifest in different colors, states of energy such as fire and ice, and even into various masses and metal. Zero is also outfitted with the Learning System, a system not unlike the Variable Weapons System in its copying and adaptation of certain weapons, but adapts various abilities and techniques of opponents and enemies, and even goes as far as copying the kind of power emitted from the attack, should it have energy projection. However, underneath his exterior displays of ability and power, just like X, Zero holds an immense and potentially limitless capability for adaptation and power. Gameplay Zero's playstyle is the called "Combo Freak"; which consists in unleashing a barrage of attacks and leaving the oponent with no chance of reaction. As in Zero's special moves don't do a lot of damage on their own, but are meant to be strung together in super-long and highly damaging combos. When facing a skilled Zero player, one opening from you can allow Zero to perform an extremely long combo that could potentially take away more than half of your lifebar, as well as being able to sport an interesting amount of pressure. In gameplay, Zero mainly uses his trademark weapons, the Z-Saber and Z-Buster. He also performs a wide variety of attacks and techniques that he gained during the X series. But as a homage to his X series specs(due to having no extra armor upgrades prepared for him before his creator's death), Zero is has quite a low defense rating (or in this case, a low health rating). Get hit by a powerhouse and he's done for in 1 or 2 combos, so be careful about getting hit. He can dish it out, but he can't take it, which makes him a "glass cannon". Special Attacks *'Hadangeki: '(Wave Severing Attack) Fires a wave from his sword, the H version fires two waves in very quick succession. Origin is MMX7. *'Ryuuenjin: '(Dragon Flame Blade) A flaming sword rising uppercut. Comes from MMX4. Unlike TvC this move can't be used in the air since the input command for this is the same as Raikousen which is an air only attack, and little-to-no 'hitlag' than in TvC. *'Shippuuga:' (Hurricane Fang) Turning dash slash attack from MMX4, now colored orange instead of pink. Meant for BnB combos, can now cancel in to launcher unlike TvC. The move now seems to pack less range, and the assist version does one hit instead of three hits. *'Kuuenzan: '(Air Circling Slash) Zero's jumping H/C attack, which no longer finishes air combos like in TvC. Zero performs a frontward-somersaulting slash in midair. Comes from MMX4, but variations of this move appear in other Mega Man games involving Zero's appearance. If performed during a super jump (TVC) or as 2C during a jump (MVC3), Zero will perform the Kuuenzan while facing backwards. *'Sentsuizan: '(Spinning Chaser Slash) An aerial version of Shippuuga, a diving slash attack in midair, the L/A version is a fake move. Origin is MMX6. *'Hienkyaku':' '(Flying Swallow Feet) A dashing teleport move from MMX4, but provides no invincibility. Can dash in two different directions on the ground, or three in midair. Used for crossups and other certain practical uses, such as extending combos. *'Hyper Zero Buster:' Holding A, B,C or Dash makes Zero charge his buster, and releasing it makes him fire it. Can be used in midair. If all three buttons have been used to dash, you cannot use other attacks until released. Unlike in TvC, it can now pierce the opponent for 3 hits, and flies more faster when fully charged and has different colors. Origin is MMX3, which is the only MMX game where Zero can use his Z-Buster while at the same time is given the feature of charging it. *'Raikousen:' (Lightning Ray Flash) Zero dashes forward with saber extended followed shortly by a streak of lightning, its angle can be changed going low or high. Comes from MMX8 although its color is blue now instead of violet. Assist Attacks Hyper Combos *'Rekkouha (Level 1): '(Rending Light Supremacy)' '''Giga Attack from MMX6. Punches the ground with a charged up Z-Buster, bringing down a salvo of rainbow-colored pillars of energy onto the opponent. Appears differently than in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, with a more localized area of effect and many more hits. This can lead to brutal DHC's if one manages to have a midair Hyper Combo pulled off during a normal air combo. *'Sougenmu (Level 1): (Twin Phantasms) Creates a shadow copy of himself that mimics his actions and doubles his hits from attacks. The shadow is now colored gray as opposed to blue, and now powers up all actions instead of just special moves(other than Hienkyaku). Power up attack from MMX5. Appears differently than in MMX: Command Mission, where the shadow was colored red and the attack was named Heat Haze. The gray coloring is possibly a reference to Copy man, a similar move used by the Robot Master Astro Man. *'''Ittou Ryoudan: Genmu Zero/Genmurei (Level 3): (One Sworded Double Severing: Phantasm Zero) Zero leaps up and pivots himself before launching a huge, supersonic energy wave from his saber. Based from MMX5 when fought as a boss, namely the 'Awakened' (or 'Maverick') form of Zero (which is also used by Zero Nightmare in MMX6). 'Itto Ryodan' is the art of cutting an opponent in two with a single stroke, and also references its use as an instant killing attack in its debut. Missions #'Mission 1' - Attack Using Hadangeki #'Mission 2' - Attack using Ryuenjin #'Mission 3' - Chain together two special moves (corner only) #'Mission 4' - Perform a combo using a cancel #'Mission 5' - Perform a combo using an air combo #'Mission 6' - Perform a combo using Sougenmu #'Mission 7' - Perform a combo using a hyper combo cancel #'Mission 8' - Perform a combo using a knockdown folloup and crossover assist #'Mission 9' - Perform a combo using X-Factor and knockdown followup #'Mission 10' - Perform a special combo Missions Zero's Missions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpXTFELJggA Titles Reploid - Clear Arcade mode with Zero on any difficulty A-Rank Hunter - Clear Arcade mode with Zero on Very Hard Maverick Hunter - Complete 5 missions with Zero Special Unit Zero - Complete 10 missions with Zero Level Headed - Use Zero 30 times Changes in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 * Decreased hit stun time on all normal attacks (L,M,H). * Slightly increased horizontal air knockback from Shippuga. * Applied limit on number of air Hyper Zero Blaster that can be performed in one jump. * Can cancel moves into Max Hyper Zero Blaster (except for Hyper Combos). * Max Hyper Zero Blaster no longer causes untechable knockdown. * Ground recovery time increased after Sentsuizan. * Changed angle of Sentsuizan H. * Raikousen will go behind an opponent in the corner. * Zero can now charge his buster before the match begins. Tactics Zero can fight from both far and close, being able to put pressure from afar with his Hadangeki and Zero Buster, or extending brutal combos(e.g: Combo into a launcher while charging a Z-Buster, air combo finishing with Z-Buster, downward Hienkyaku to reach ground quickly, then repeat). Zero also has a strong meter build as he combos his opponent, making his Hyper Combos quick to use if needed. Be aware that Zero is actually somewhat nerfed from his TvC counterpart, so some of his more popular combos from there have to be done in a different fashion. Despite this, Zero's new tools and tweaks can help him with that. He also seems to do a bit more damage per hit, with some of his TvC BnB combos removed(such as his popular 5B/M>2B/M). Theme Song 300px Zero's theme is a remix of his battle theme from Mega Man X2. Trailer thumb|300px|left Trivia *In Marvel vs Capcom 3, Zero is voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch in English and Ryotaro Okiayu, the most known role of Zero in Japanese. Bosch also voiced and motion-captured Nero in Devil May Cry 4. *This is not the first time Zero was in a Capcom crossover game; this will be his third appearance since his debut in SNK vs. Capcom 2: SvC Chaos (in his Mega Man Zero incarnation) and Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, but it is the first time he has ever made it to the Marvel vs. Capcom series. Like in TvC and MVC3, Zero has simple loops and powerful combos, though his health rating is not yet examined. *Zero's alternate color schemes are based on his allies X and Axl, as well as Bass (another robot built by Dr. Wily and Zero's technical brother) and an armor used for the fake Zero in X2 that also appeared in later installments of the series as a hidden or upgrade armor. One of the updated alternate color schemes may be based on Vile, a recurring villain in the X'' series. One of his new palettes in UMVC3 is based on one of X's armors. *Due to Zero's nature of having high damage output (whether in long strings of combos or just strong attacks) he usualy is coupled with low health/defense in his appearances (Whether canon or not) in the ''Mega Man X series. In Mega Man X8, for example, he was the slowest in terms of running speed and had the shortest dash while Axl was the fastest and X was in between. In said game, Black Zero was faster and dealt more damage, but took twice the normal damage from enemies, and in MMX: Command Mission he had high attack and the second most health in the game, but the lowest parameter in defense stats in the game. His defense decreased even more so with the Red Lotus saber, that increases his attack by turning his defense stats into power. **Strangely enough, aside from Tron Bonne, all Mega Man characters in the vs. Capcom series share the low health trait, and Zero's health is shown to be the same amount as Roll's from Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, with Megaman Vollnutt and the two Yattermans being just one step above the health ranking. Karas comes after Zero and Roll, being the lowest. **Also as a nod to his stats, Zero's MVC3 bio shows his stamina to be 3/7, and his fighting ability to be 7/7, which shows Zero in canon utilizes his skills to the best to wear down his foes; this could be the main reason for his low damage output for most of his singular blows(his could be that he lost the Marverick Virus that he carried with him before). (TV Tropes defines him as Gradual Grinder and Fragile Speedster for this.) Also, this is due to the fact that his durability basically stayed the same due to the fact Dr. Wily died before making any extra future upgrades for Zero. Dr. Light did this for X, but could only provide the Black Armor to Zero. **Zero's long combos in fighting games seems to nod at his personality as well, taking note that he shows no mercy to his enemies as he basically never holds back on them, showing he always fights at his best. *In Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, all of Zero's attacks came from each of the MMX series games he was playable in with the exception of MMX8. This was changed in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, where he was given one attack from each game (MMX3-MMX8). **His fighting stances also pay homage to the MMX games : TvC pays homage to X4-X''5's stance (both fists closed), and ''MVC3 pay homage to his X6 stance (one hand open). His standing L,M, and H pay homage to his basic combo in X4-''X5'', but his Z-Saber somehow stays the same though, and is even able to use skills from X6 and onward without his X6-''X8'' saber. *Zero's ending has him hitching a ride with the Silver Surfer back to his own world. Silver Surfer, instead, accidentally takes Zero to Neo Arcadia, the setting of the Mega Man Zero series, due to him not being able to tell the two apart (as they are essentially the same world in a different time). They soon travel to a different world in order to take Zero back to his homeworld. *Zero is one of only 6 characters (the other being Hsien-Ko, M.O.D.O.K., Spider-Man, Super Skrull and Shuma-Gorath) in the game to have a special quote fighting himself. *Zero appears to confuse Sentinel for a Maverick - a term used in the Mega Man X series describing a Reploid that desires to harm humans (this is partly true as it was made to combat human mutants, but not nessearily humans in general). *Zero is the only character that possess a normal run (which is the type of dash in games such as King of Fighters) in the entire vs. Capcom series (possibly noting to his running animation in the X'' series), not counting the SNK crossovers (as all characters can run in ''Capcom vs. SNK 1 and 2) and his Mega Man Zero counterpart in SvC Chaos (as all characters could only dash in that game). Amaterasu seems to possess this as well. *Zero is the only character out of the 3 who came to MvC3 from TvC with minimal changes to his actual model design aside from color fixing, the other two being Viewtiful Joe and Frank West. Zero's only changes involved his hair being to its usual length and form (whereas TvC had it somewhat thinner like in Mega Man X8), along with the aforementioned one-hand-open X6 stance. Joe's TvC model was exactly from his games (though he faces more forward towards his foe) while Frank's face gets some changes. *In Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 one of his new win quotes can contextually be taken as a reference to (or even something of a jab at) the huge demand for Mega Man X: "If X were here, he would have tried to talk things out first. Unfortunately for you, X isn't here." Although it's highly likely the line is meant to be Zero suggesting to his opponent that if X were present before the fight it -along with their defeat- might not have happened at all, due to X's famous technical pacifist nature. Ironically enough, X himself is his DLC costume. Artwork Tvc-zero.jpg|Tatsunoko vs. Capcom : Ultimate All Stars artwork. Zero_MvsC3-FTW.PNG|Original Marvel vs. Capcom 3 artwork. Zeroaxlxbasscolorswaps.png|Marvel vs Capcom 3 alternate costumes. Colors27.jpg|Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 alternate costumes. zerobvg.png 310330_286992611332693_100000658687590_988952_303943615_n.jpg Also See Zero's moves in Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds Category:Characters Category:Capcom Characters Category:MvC3 Characters Category:Good Alignment Category:UMvC3 Characters Category:Characters Category:Capcom Characters Category:MvC3 Characters Category:Good Alignment Category:UMvC3 Characters Category:Male Characters